Dan Bernstein officially launched the next chapter of his career on Monday with the debut of his new podcast.
And the first episode of Dan Bernstein Unfiltered didn’t bury the lede, as the longtime Chicago radio host quickly addressed his firing from 670 The Score earlier this year.
“We got here primarily because I went psycho on a Twitter troll,” Bernstein told co-host Matt Abbatacola at the start of the episode. “… everything that happened since it first started into the bloodstream and this whole thing started rolling the way that it did is my fault. Entirely. Everything that was coming to me, I’ve earned. I am facing — still facing — the consequences of my actions. It’s because of what I chose to do. Nobody ganged up against me. There’s no vast conspiracy here. It’s my fault because of my shortcomings. And I’ve learned a lot of about those shortcomings.”
Bernstein emphasized that he wasn’t going to make excuses, but wanted to offer explanations. He said that he immediately began to seek answers about own behavior following his firing, which came as the result of a social media argument in which he threatened dox a social media user and get his “kids involved” following an online argument about fishing.
Bernstein revealed that he underwent intensive psychotherapy treatment to address whatever it was that had been building leading up to the social media explosion that ultimately cost him his job. Tying to situation to past health issues he had experienced connected to anxiety, he described the outburst as “the culmination of a slow-rolling mental health crisis,” much of which was rooted in his use of social media.
“We’ve learned a lot and we’ve done a ton of work,” Bernstein said in reference to his mental health. “I’ve learned for me that the way — for me, Twitter specifically — rewired my brain for the worse. And a lot of sh*tty things that have happened in my career and bad decisions that I’ve made have been related to Twitter. And you know them, they’re public.”
The longtime Windy City host said that realization allowed his therapist to diagnose “an actual chemical addiction” to a “dopamine outrage cycle” stemming from his use for the platform.
“Bottom line: Twitter’s bad for me,” he said. “I don’t think I need to tell you that. Twitter’s unhealthy for me.”
Bernstein said he won’t be leaving X, as doing so would be “stupid” from a marketing perspective. He did, however, say that he has adjusted the way in which he uses the platform and that “not being on Twitter” for anything other than marketing reasons has been helpful to his mental health journey.
Bernstein’s comments are worth the listen, as they aren’t just transparent, but likely relatable for many people entrenched in similar cycles with their social media use. As we’ve seen over the years, there are many career paths radio hosts can take after being fired in controversial fashion. But Bernstein’s appears to be one of the most vulnerable and healthiest approaches we’ve seen in recent memory.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.